Credit: Courtesy

FILE - In this June 1, 2018, file photo, children hold signs during a demonstration in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Miramar, Fla. The Trump administration's move to separate immigrant parents from their children on the U.S.-Mexico border has turned into a full-blown crisis in recent weeks, drawing denunciation from the United Nations, Roman Catholic bishops and countless humanitarian groups. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Republicans can no longer call themselves the party for family values when they are allowing the president to rip families apart at our border.

In April Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the “zero tolerance” immigration policy where if you get caught crossing the border you go to jail and are separated from your children.

Now we have almost 2,000 kids in custody. More detention tents in Texas have been set up to house migrant children taken from their families. As Americans, it seems immoral and wrong to keep children locked in these fenced-in areas. As parents we must put parties aside and stand for these kids.

Despite the heart-crushing images of these youngsters, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen defended this practice. “Illegal actions have and must have consequences — no more free passes, no more get out of jail free cards,” she said. “We do not have the luxury of pretending that all individuals coming to this country as a family unit are in fact a family.”

The HSS secretary is probably right that some thugs are posing as family units in order to sneak into this country. However, it’s the job of border security to figure that out and not punish every family who is seeking safety.

Democrats and Republicans need to start working together to come up with comprehensive immigration reform. President Trump has gone too far. However, Democrats need to stop painting all illegal immigrants as victims and consider the financial toll our porous borders are having on this country.

Sessions claims he is concerned for the kids but the images from Texas suggest otherwise. “We do not want adults to bring children into this country unlawfully, placing them at risk,” he said. “This country is dedicated to caring for those children.”

You know Republicans have gone too far when the very private former first lady Laura Bush gets involved by penning an op-ed saying the separations “break my heart.”

“I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart,” she wrote.

Republicans can expect a sea change in Washington come November if they don’t stand up for these kids and denounce the policy. Prepare to pack your bags!

Sorry Mr. President, this immigration policy does not make America great again.